Display actuating mechanism



Sept. 28, 1937.

A. J. EVERS DISPLAY ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed June 11, 1934 2Sheets-Sheet l Patented Sept. 28, 1937 umrs FAT

DESILAY ACTUATING MECHANISM linois Application June 11, 1934, Serial No.729,998

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in display actuating mechanismsand refers specifically to a mechanism for simultaneously actuating oranimating an advertising display by imparting thereto a plurality ofmotions of different characters.

The utility, objects and advantages of my invention will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings and following detail description.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevational view, illustrating theactuating'mechanism com-' prising my invention, driving a display showndiagrammatically.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the actuating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a top plan sectional view showing the gear trains associatedwith the mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 5--il of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 6 indicates a casing which maycomprise two substantially symmetrical metal shells 2 and 3. Each shellmay be provided with an outwardly extending peripheral flange ii, saidflanges being provided with a plurality of registering apertures 5through which bolts 6 may pass serving to secure the shells 2 and 3together. The casing i may be supported upon legs or standards 1, whichmay comprise metal bands bent in rectangular fashion in order to formthree supporting the ends of the bands being secured to the lower shell3 by means of bolts 8. Each of the sides of the bands l may be providedwith apertures s whereby said bands may be bolted or otherwise fastenedto a suitable support. The legs l being rectangular in shape providemeans whereby the casing i may be positioned horizontally as shown inFig. 4, or said casing may be disposed upon either of its longitudinaledges.

An electric motor it may be positioned beneath the casing l and betweenthe supports 7. A pair of rods (not shown) may be secured in spacedrelationship to the lower shell 3, said rods be ing. threaded at theirupper ends and engaged with nuts II within casing I. The rods may dependfrom shell 3 upon each side of motor it and may pass through the fieldpieces 12 of said motor. Nuts It may be positioned upon said rodsimmediately beneath shell 3 and may serve to hold said rods in rigidposition with respect to said shell. said rods and may serve to properlyspace the field pieces [2 from the lower face of the shell 3.

Cross members It and Il may be secured to said rods at the lower andupper ends thereof,

Sleeves I l and i5 may circumscribe said cross members intermediatetheir length, carrying bearings (not shown) which serve as journals forthe armature shaft it of motor it. An arm 26 may be positioned upon eachof said rods and may be confined upon said rods between the lower spacerI5 and cross member I6. Each of the arms 2t at their opposite ends maysupport brush holders 2i, brushes 22 for the motor being positionedwithin said holders and being adapted to make contact with commutator23. A fan may be disposed at'the lowermost end of shaft l9 and may serveto provide an air circulation for the cooling of said motor.

Shaft It at its upper extremity may project through the wall of shell 3and may carry at its upper end pinion 25. Pinion 25 meshes with gear 25carried upon shaft 2i, the ends of which latter may be journalled inbearings 23 and 2d at its lower and upper end respectively, saidbearings being secured by pressing in the walls of shells 3 and 2. Apinion 353 may also be positioned upon shaft 2? and is adapted to meshwith gear 3i mounted upon shaft 32, the upper and lower ends of whichare respectively journalled in bearings 33 and 34, which, similar tobearings 28 and 29, are positioned in the walls of shells 2 and 3. Apinion 35 is also carried by shaft 32 and is adapted to mesh with gear36 mounted upon shaft (ll which maybe journalled inthe upper and lowershells 2 and ii. Shaft 3'! upon which gear 35 is mounted, projects abovethe surface of shell 2, and, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, may be utilized to drive in a continuous manner a desireddisplay.

A segmental plate 3% may be rigidly mounted upon shaft 3? and an arm 39may be formed integral with said plate, said arm being offset below theplane of the segmental portion it of the plate. A rotatable pin 4! maybe disposed at the end of arm 39 and upon rotation of shaft 3'! said pinis adapted to engage in slots provided in the periphery of Geneva gearis. Gear 53 may be mounted upon shaft 44 which may be journalled inbearings 35 and 46 respectively mounted in the shells 3 and 2.

A sleeve ll may be positioned upon shaft 44 and may be adapted to holdgear 43 in desired position within the casing I, that is, in the planeof the segmental portion 40 of plate 38. Slots i2 may extend radially ingear :33 and may be circumferentially spaced from each other. Theperiphery of gear 43 intermediate each pair of slots is cut away in anarc-shaped manner as indicated at 38 in Fig. 3, the radius of curvatureof the are being similar to the radius of curvature of the segmentalportion 4!] of plate 33.

Motor ill may be energized by connecting plug 49 to a suitable source ofelectric current and upon rotation of said motor, shaft 3"! is rotated.By means of the gear train comprising pinions 25, 36, and 35, and gears26, El, and 3B, shaft 3'! will be rotated at a very low speed. However,the rotation of shaft 3? is continuous during the period in which motorit is energized. When shaft 31 rotates arm 39 is revolved and the radiusof said arm, that is, the distance between the center-line of shait 3'5and the center-line of pin 4!, is such with respect to the radius of theGeneva gear #53 and the circumferential spacing of slots 42 from eachother, that upon one complete rotation of shaft 3'? taking place, gear43 will be moved a circumferential distance equal to the distancebetween adjacent slots 42. remaining cycle of rotation of shaft 3?, thesegmental portion ill of plate 38 engages the cut away portions lS'ofgear 33, but no motion is imparted to said latter gear. It can readilybe seen that while shaft 3? rotates continuously, shaft :34 will moveintermittently, the number of individual movements necessary to completeone revolution of shaft 3-4 depending upon the n i-- ber of slots 52provided in the periphery of gear 43.

A plate 59 may be removably mounted upon the upper end of shaft M andmay secured to said shaft by means of set-screw 5i. t is to beunderstood, however, that plate 56 may be dispensed with and a gear,pulley or crank arm (not shown) may be mounted upon shaft (i l.

In the intended use of my invention, two associated movable advertisingdisplay elements may be actuated simultaneously; For example, ahexagonal prismatic display device 52 having six display faces 53, maybe mounted upon plate 5d and secured thereon by means of screws 54 orthe like. A sheave wheel 55 may be mounted upon the projecting end ofshaft Sland a belt or cord 56 may connect sheave wheel to sheave wheel5'! which, in turn, may be mounted upon the connecting shaft theopposite end of said shaft carryinga sheave wheel 59. Wheel 59 may beoperatively connected to sheave wheel 6:! by means of belt or cord 5i.Wheel Gil may be mounted upon shaft 62 which, in turn, may carry one ormore cylinders 53 whose lateral sides may be utilized as dispiaysurfaces' .7

It can readily be seen that by' this 'arran a ment prism will be rotatedintermittently whereby faces 53 will be sequentially presented as viewedfrom one side of the display. Simultaneously cylinders 63 will becontinuously ro-. tated and may also be viewed from the samepoint ofView. This arrangement of an animated or mechanical display has beenfound to be very flexible and susceptible to being used in manyattractive combinations. For instance, cylinder 63 may present ordisplay a message which may be explanatory of a sequence of events whichDuring the 7 and is presented merely for purposes of illustration. 7

I claim as my invention: 7 l. A display actuating mechanism casing,comprising in combination a pair of oppositely disposed symmetricalshells adapted to be secured together in fixed relation and within whichan actuating mechanism is disposed, depending legs associated v/ith oneof said shells and extending perpendicularly therefrom and adapted tohouse a mover for said actuating mechanism between them, said dependinglegs being formed to present a plurality of alternating supporting basesurfaces for the entire casing.

2. A display actuating mechanism casing, comprising in combination apair of oppositely disposed symmetrical shells adapted to be securedtogether in fixed relation and within which an actuating mechanism isdisposed, rectangular shaped depending legs associated with one of saidshells and extending perpendicularly therefrom and adapted to house amover for saidaotuating mechanism between them and an animatable displayextending over the face of the other shell, saiddepending legs beingformed to present a plurality of alternating supporting base surfacesfor the entire casing.

3. A display actuating mechanism casing, comprising in combination apair of oppositely disposed symmetrical shells adapted to be secured Atogether in fixed relation and within which an actuating mechanism isdisposed, a three sided base support associated with one of said shellsextending perpendicularly therefrom and adapt 7 ed to house a mover forsaid actuating mechanism and an animatable display extending from theface of the opposed shell, said support being formed to present aplurality of alternating base surfaces for the entire casing.

'and'extending perpendicularly therefrom adapted to house a mover forsaid actuating mechanism and an animatable display extending from andover the face of the other shell, said depending legs being formed topresent a plurality of alternating base surfaces for the entire casing.

ARTHUR J. EVERS.

